Browns unveils 032c's first women's shoe collection

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 5, 2019

Berlin-based magazine and apparel brand 032c is today launching its first women’s shoe collection, called Buffalo London by 032c, with a debut at Browns East. The brand will gets its own installation and event at the Shoreditch, London luxury retailer.

Designed by 032c ready-to-wear creative director Maria Koch, the new line is a collaboration between the label and 40-year-old Buffalo Boots.

Unsurprisingly, it features the German shoe label’s famous platform sneaker soles, which were internationally popularised by youth and club sub-cultures in the 1990s and 2000s. But it combines this detail with “archetypal elements of classic luxury footwear.”

That means “riding-inspired jodhpur ankle boots with high-quality leather uppers fastened with a traditional strap and buckle, and updated with Buffalo height, 032c-red detailing, and a bespoke square clasp.” And it said “thigh-highs reference fetish- and club-wear, reinterpreted in the rich materials preferred by European heritage labels.”

Clearly, it’s a collection designed to have a high impact and not one for the faint-hearted. “It’s streetwear on steroids meets old world craftsmanship,” the brand said “because more is more, contradiction is beautiful, and we didn’t grow up to leave our youth behind.” 

The launch is a “natural next step for the [032c] brand,” according to Maria Koch, and an “exploration of the full spectrum of possibility for the 032c design identity.” She added that the goal was to combine womenswear with the distinctive qualities of club-wear and that “we’re celebrating that tension and potential.”